Poluke

My dad used to take a couple of those "Desert Bags" canteens along for our road trips. After he soaked them in water and filled them with water he would hang them off the front of the station wagon. When we got to our first jumping off point he'd give us one to drink from. Man that water was cold! even though it was 80 degrees out, that water was cold.

I have bagged meat and dipped them into creeks before and the evaporation has kept the meat from spoiling.I have put said dipped bags of meat in plastic bags and the meat warmed up a bit to the point where I didn't trust it. The meat began to spoil.

If you are boning an animal and putting the meat into game bags I would recommend double layering the bags. Blow flys and such have to search real hard to find a way to the meat. Two bags retain the cooling effect longer.

If you have to spend the night hang your bags high to keep predators from getting to them. Hang the meat far enough away from camp to keep the predators from getting at you. The temps in the mountains at night should sustain the cooling effects and help preserve the meat. And on your trip out you can dip the bags in a stream (if there is one near) to keep the meat cooling until you get to a processor or a place where you can better care for your trophy.

That's my experience good luck hunting best of all.

Poluke

If you are worried about the murky water why not filter it - I carry a Katadyn filtration pump capable of 200 plus gallons before changing filters. It works well for drinking as it filters out the smallest bacteria. But I wouldn't use a purifier tablet as this may taint the meat a bit. In fact i trust it enough to not use purity tablets for my drinkng water. Just a thought.

Elkcrazy8

Poluke, The whole Idea of using the plastic bags in my case is to keep the meat as dry as i can, Even if the water is clean, I don't want to risk the chance of any bacteria getting into the meat. Water is also an ingrediant that helps bacteria grow. This is the main reason that hospitals use humidity in their incubators, it helps the bacteria specemins grow. I feel by keeping water, heat, and air off of the meat, there will be less factors that inhibit bacteria growth. Don't get me wrong. The air is good to get rid of the initial body heat, but by purging the air from the bags, It helps starve any bacteria. We usually don't have the luxury of getting the meat out right away. I have left the meat submerged in the creek for up to three days. And none of it has spoiled. I am familiar with the cooling effect of your canteens. It works on the same principals as the evaporative coolers used in drier climates. Usaully during archery season in Late August or early Sept. the humidity levels are generally higher in the surrounding air. The effect of cooling would be less because of the morning dew evaporating and filling the air. I don't think that it would be a great idea to put wet meat bags into the plastic bags. The meat bags should be dry before being submerged. When I pull the sealed bags from the creek. The meat bags are still dry. The whole concept is the same as putting the meat in the refrigerator. The creek that I hunt along is fed by a glacier. Thhe water is colder than normal. Good idea about hanging the meat to keep it away from predators. We are always running into the overgrown racoons ourselves. We had meat hung one late rifle season and Mr Bear decided to pay us a visit when we were away from camp. He never did get the meat, however he decided to indulge himself on a box of power bars. It wasn't hard to find out which scat was his. You could see it shining from a mile away. with the creek method we have found that the predators don't smell it, The meat is covered by the water and sealed in a bag. This has greatly reduced our encounters with the bears. Another thing that we do is, when burying our cache, we will fill the top 1 1/2 feet of the hole with boulders. The bears have tried to dig up our goods but failed when they reached the rocks. They moved them around a little. But gave up when they couldn't lift them out of the hole. When hunting up high in the back country, a person should do everything he can to make sure extra work is not created. If done right, hunting in remote areas can be some of the most rewarding that you will ever encounter. Good luck on future hunts. I can hear them bugling already.

bea175

I like hunting on my own and hate the idea of a guide leading me around and telling me when to shoot and what to do, now that i have said that, i hunt on public land in Colorado.
I hunt from one mile to two of the easy access roads. I always hunt with a friend so when one of us kills we will have help getting the elk out. You may have to go miles off the road to kill a trophy book elk, but not that far to kill an elk. It depends on your view of what a trophy is. I only had a cow tag last year and passed up five nice bulls and filled my tag with a nice eating cow. I am 52 years old now and can't go like i did when i was 20. We hunt at 11,000 plus feet and the air gets very thin when you really exert yourself. I hunt all day and try to get to the opening before first light, because after the first day of shooting, the elk move into the timber at first light. The cow we pulled out whole but it was all down hill, but still more work than most like to to do. I had heart bypass surgery
when i was 46 , 5 grafts and i still hunt the high country and you can see why pulling an elk or packing it out is hard work for me. I will only quit when i die.

LUV TO HUNT,
Bob / Kingsport, TN

ELKampMaster

Bea175,

THAT ---- was short but sweet!
All true.
Keep going my man.

Good Luck and Good Hunting,
EKM

bea175

Put in for muzzleloader bull only this year in CO. Hope to get drawed. Another photo from last years hunt and thanks EKM . Snowing in Oct in the high country.

Bob

Elkcrazy8

Bea, keep on going. You sound like me. Two years ago I was bear hunting the day after kidney surgery. I pulled out my own catheter to go. And killed a bear also. The next week, I was packing a bull out, with extreme pain of course. That trip landed me for an overnight stay in the hospital, but man it was worth it. If you take me out of those mountains. You have taken all that I am made of. I commend you on your efforts.

Poluke

THere is an excellent article in the "TRADITIONAL BOWHUNTER" magazine about Bivy hunting. Check it out. It's got good info on what to bring with you.

Good luck

DIY forever

Poluke

Yeah I agree with your method - dry meat dry bag and all that - it works well. I think i took a bath in one of those pools - i got out before i got wet. Speaking of racoons I make it a point to shed my clothing and hang it also. A "racoon" got to my bundle and shredded it. Thats why I carry spares now I don't mind the extra weight on a two dayer. Kinda fun though, hiking around in a deer bag.